


Seamless

by What_I_Wrote_In_Ink



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Knows, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Is a Little Shit, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Alya Césaire Is So Done, Alya Césaire Ships It, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas, F/M, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Identity Reveal, Light Angst, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Finds Out First, Nino Lahiffe Is So Done, Nino Lahiffe Ships It, or does she?, why isn't miss bustier a character tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:39:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27990129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/What_I_Wrote_In_Ink/pseuds/What_I_Wrote_In_Ink
Summary: Marinette agrees to help Adrien with a favor. Except she completely missed what that favor was exactly.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 15
Kudos: 303





	1. Chapter 1

Whatever it was Madame Bustier was saying to the class, Marinette wasn’t listening. She was barely keeping herself awake. Yesterday, Hawkmoth had unleashed another akumatized teenager onto the masses; and the ensuing battle had lasted for hours. Causing both her and Chat to nearly transform back in front of an entire crowd of onlookers. The fight had left her exhausted but she’d had homework to do, and so sleep hadn’t had the opportunity to sleep.

“Girl are you alive in there?” Alyas voice whispered in her ear. 

A strained groan was all she could muster in response. Her head still laying against the cool surface of the desk. Her worksheet long forgotten in her sleep-deprived state of mind. No, she was perfectly comfortable right where she was. 

“Marinette, wake up! Class got dismissed like five minutes ago!” Alya shouted, now shaking Marinette awake by her shoulders. 

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Marinette began to pack the worksheets Madame Bustier had assigned for homework into her bookbag. 

“Sorry Alya, I didn’t get any sleep last night.” She responded, finally standing. “Finally catching up on all that missing homework ya’know?” It wasn’t technically a lie, but not technically the truth either.

Getting out of their seats, the two made their way down the stairs and towards the exit doors, both happy to finally be out of class for the day. The weather was beautifully clear for this late into winter. The first snows would be coming any day now and Marinette couldn’t be more excited. The start of the holiday season always brought on inspiration. When the snow came down and all the holiday lights went up, Marinette would sit for hours on her roof and draw out new winter inspired designs. 

“Marinette! Alya! Hold on a minute!” Adrien's voice rang out through the quad, freezing Marinette in her place right in front of the doors.

“Up! What’s Adrien? I-I mean Adrien! What’s up?” Marinette liked to think she’d gotten better at dealing with her crush on the model, but in reality that was nothing but fantasy. She sent a look to Alya that she hoped would read help me.

“Listen can I talk to you for a moment?” Abort, abort, abort. “I need some help with something.” ABORT. 

“Um….” Words, she needed words. How stupid, she can save all of paris, but she still can’t talk to a boy she has a crush on. 

“Of course Marinette can,” Alyas betrayal rang through her ears, “I’ll meet you at the bakery later so we can get that head start on the homework.” Et tu, Brutus?

Alya pushed Marinette towards Adrien, causing her to just barely avoid falling on her face. This was going to end terribly, she was going to say something embarrassing and Adrien was going to hate her forever. Bad, this was going to be bad. So very, very, bad.

Turning around, Alya had already left. Which left her alone, with Adrien. Alone, with adrien. Adrien. He was talking about something, she should be listening, but he was so dreamy and she was so screwed.

“...would that be okay?”

Would what be okay? It didn’t matter, her mouth was already moving. 

“Yep!” She responded, smiling at him.

“Amazing, thank you so much,” she fought off a swoon as he smiled back, “I’ll see you later then?”

Adrien began to walk away before she could respond, throwing a wave over his shoulder as he entered the car that awaited him everyday after class. Marinette cringed. She could already hear Alyas laughter at her situation as she began to walk home. How deep of a hole did she just dig herself into? And what, exactly, awaited her at the bottom?

Alya was already waiting for Marinette when she popped her head into her bedroom.

“Traitor.” Was all marinette said, causing Alya to erupt into a boisterous laugh.

“I’m sorry Marinette! But you were just standing there being awkward and then you sent me that look for help and I just… answered for you.” Alya shrugged, her voice still tilted with laughter. “Anyways, do you understand this new assignment at all?”

Marinette's head was busy with homework, Alyas latest theories about Ladybugs secret identity for the blog and the new music from Jagged Stones new album. Next to them, plates of pastries from the bakery scattered across the desk and bed. 

By the time they had finished the first half of their homework, Marinette had almost forgotten the incident with Adrien. Almost. The ping! Of her phone that played only for Adrien sent the dread sprouting once more through her gut once again. She had never told Alya the entirety of how deep into it she was. 

The text was painfully simple: I’m outside when you're ready.

Outside? Outside!? Where was *outside* exactly? She raced over to check out her window. Yep, there he was, leaning against the silver car he was always chauffeured around Paris in. The gorilla leaning right beside them. Flailing, she whipped her head towards Alya.

“Hide the evidence.”  
Marinette rushed down the stairs and through the bustling bakery. Adrien was here. She was trying with all her might to stay calm as she approached him. And she was failing, miserably. 

“Hey Marinette! I got all the stuff for the thing, you ready?” She nodded, still catching her breath from the run downstairs. 

The gorilla grunted, as he got back into the car and drove off. Both of the teens waved in a short goodbye. Marinette took the moment to shake herself together, while Adrien's back was still turned towards the road. She could do this, she would be fine.

She couldn’t do this, and she was not fine. Sitting on the couch in her room with Adrien, the evidence of her crush on him dutifully hidden by Alya -a small makeup to her previous betrayal- she tried to school her face into calmness.

“So do you think it would work?” 

The drawing was crude and not that of a practiced designer, but then again he wasn’t one his dad was. It would be a small, red, dotted woolen scarf for ‘someone special.’ She ignored the sinking in her gut, because whoever ‘someone special’ was, it wasn’t her. It was probably Chloe. The red scarf with the black dots was a clear reference to Ladybug, to her. 

Ladybug who Chloe was such a huge fan of, and Chloe, who was so close to Adrien that she was the only person it could be. Besides Natalie, Marinette couldn’t think of another girl close to Adrien; and it definitely wasn’t Natalie. Still, Marinette smiled a smile she hoped didn’t look as pained as she felt.

“Yeah, yeah it'll definitely work.” Her eyes felt wet, “Whoever she is, shell love it.”

They worked on it together late into the night. Adrien's father letting him stay at Marinette later then expected on the agreement he’d make up the missed lessons. It felt like they were the perfect team. Moving around each other without words, both seeming to read the other's mind and know what to do before the words were spoken.

Apparently, Adrien had also taken sewing classes at some point in his life because although he was rusty, and certainly no pro he still managed to do a good amount of the work/ Only stepping aside at the most complicated of parts to make way for her expertise.

Her parents had brought them up pizzas for dinner, and the two of them only stopped long enough to grab a slice before getting back to work. Marinette had blushed like a fire truck as her father motioned to Adrien and shot her a wink. She hoped against hope that Adrien hadn’t noticed.

As the first rays of sunlight began to reach over the roofs of the building of Paris and into her bedroom, Adrien finished the final stitches on the scarf. Leaning back on to their chairs, eyes still locked on the scarf they both lifted their hands into a silent fistbump.

“Well,” Adrien said, a smile spreading across his face, “I guess you could say we make a pretty seamless team.”

She was so tired that she actually laughed. Chat could never know about this. Ladybug, laughing at a pun. He’d never let her live it down. Not for as long as she lived.

“Yep, pretty seamless alright.” Marinette whispered in response.

Adrien had left only a couple of minutes later. And Marinette had sat there wondering who the lucky girl was that would get that scarf. It wasn’t until Tikki had come out from the bed covers and convinced her to get sleep before the patrol that night had she actually moved.

Her and Chat Noir had given each other gifts on the last patrol before Christmas since they started patrolling together last year, and being upset over one boy would not bring a stop to their tiny Christmas tradition. 

She’d made Chat a box of cookies for the occasion. The year before she had brought one as a snack for him and he’d spent the rest of the year talking about how amazing the cookie she was. The several dozen she’d brought wouldn’t last him until Christmas, but with how much he talked about those cookies she couldn't think of anything else to give him.

Sitting on a Paris rooftop across from the Arc de Triomphe and looking over all the different decorations. The two super heroes both pulled out their gifts for one another. As Chat took the bag that contained his cookies from Ladybug, he passed her back a small white box tied in a beautiful red bow. Slowly untying the carefully done bow, she didn’t see Chat put her gift to the side in preference of watching her reaction.

“It’s nothing much my Lady, but you always complain about how cold you get when we're out late.” 

Taking the lid off the top of the box Ladybug froze in place. A red woolen scarf decorated with small, black dots that matched her costume sat folded inside the white box. An extremely familiar red and black spotted scarf. The one she had helped Adrien make days ago for the ‘special someone’ he’d mentioned. But here it was, that exact same scarf. And there he was, his green eyes now staring into her shocked face. 

“Ladybug?” She heard it now, the distinct Adrienness of his voice.

She looked at him, her partner, her friend, the other half of their seamless crime-fighting team, “Adrien?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seamless but this time it's Adrien "gigantic ball of angst" Agreste's POV

Adrien had figured it out after an akuma attack that had taken place at the school several weeks ago, watched Marinette duck into Ms. Mendeleiev’s class as Ladybug and come out as Marinette. He didn’t know what to do, waiting on the sidewalk for his driver to pick him up. Plag had started talking about finally knowing the identity of the love of his life but all Adrien could do was silently panic. 

He wasn’t listening. His mind was blank and his body numb. It was Marinette. Adrien always had a hunch that he knew Ladybug as a civilian, a certain sense of familiarity that always radiated from her. But he always kept himself from actively looking, no matter how tempting it was. Ladybug - no, Marinette - never wanted them to know each other's identities, afraid of the danger it would cause the other to be in.

But it didn’t stop him from wanting to tell her. 

Adrien didn’t know when the car arrived; he didn’t pay attention when it started to move or when they arrived at the Agreste Mansion. Adrien dragged himself up and into his room, dropping himself onto his bed and letting out an exhausted groan.

Fights with akumas leave him tired enough, but the crisis raging inside his head was making it all so much worse. At least his bed was comfortable. 

“So you're gonna tell her right?” Plag asked zooming out from his collar and towards the cabinet that held his camembert. 

He sat there for a minute to consider his options. On the one hand, accident or not he now knew Marinette was Ladybug, and there was nothing that could change that. But on the other, he was very possibly going to explode if he didn’t.

She’d been right there the entire time and he’d missed her.

Adrien settled for a scream into his pillow and a quiet, “I don’t know Plag.”

Plag settled onto the bed, happily chowing down his cheese, “Well I think you should. Imagine the food she could bring us! The pastries!” 

Shaking his head, Adrien decided to set the problem aside for tomorrow. His bed was warm, Plag was going on about all the possible pastries they could get from this and although he was filled with panic he just wanted to rest more than anything else. So Adrien pulled up his covers and dug inside, settling in for what would be a fitful night of rest.

Standing on the steps of Francoise Dupont High School, Adrien tucked himself deeper into his jacket. The early morning chill of winter had caused all the students to run straight to class, which left Adrien outside, trying to prepare for a day of classes with Marinette.

He’d done this before, had gone with her to class everyday for over a year now, he could do this. It was just another day of class; he didn’t need to make it into a big deal. But it was, because Marinette was Ladybug, and that meant that the love of his life was in that classroom. 

“Take a breath,” Plag said, popping out from his collar just enough so Adrien could see him but still keeping himself hidden, “your Chat Noir, you can do this.”

“Yeah,” Adrien replied, running a hand through his hair, “I'm Chat Noir, I can do anything.”

If he said it loud enough, and convincingly enough, maybe he would start to believe it. Maybe his hand would stop shaking and his breath would steady. Maybe his heart wouldn’t hammer in his chest loud enough to be heard across Paris. But now the bell was ringing, and he couldn’t stall for any longer.

She was right behind him. Ladybug was right there behind him. His Lady. Right there the entire time and he had missed her. It took everything he had in him not to turn around, to focus on the board and the lesson. Miss Bustier was talking about the day's homework, Nino was trying to whisper something to Adrien under his breath but he couldn’t hear either of them. His head was buzzing, his ears ringing. She was right there and he couldn’t say anything.

All he wanted to do was turn around and shout, ‘I’m right here! It’s me! It’s Chat!’ 

Of course, that wasn’t an option for him; he still had a secret identity he needed to keep up even if he knew hers. Instead he did his best to listen to Ninos whisperings about the new track he was making and did his best to ignore the sweat on the palms of his hands and how the classroom felt like it was shrinking around him.

Adrien didn’t know how much longer he sat there pretending to listen to Nino and Miss Bustier; but when the bell rang it was the sound of heaven. The relief was almost enough for him to forget who was sitting behind him. Almost. 

As the class filed out to the courtyard Adrien motioned for Nino to stay behind with him.

“We’ll just be a minute Miss Bustier, if that’s alright?” Adrien asked, pulling out his best ‘please let me have this I’m sheltered’ look. 

With a responsive nod Miss Bustier walked out the classroom, closing the door behind her with a small click. After waiting a moment to make sure she wasn’t going to come back inside, Adrien let out a shaking breath and turned towards Nino.

“Yo what's up with you today man? You’ve been zoning out like a crazy.”

“Nino I am freaking out.” 

Adrien could only imagine he looked insane, his entire body was racked with panic.

“Adrien take a breath, relax!” Adrine did his best to inhale a shaky breath, struggling to inhale anything more than a shallow huff of air as he rested his hands on his friend's shoulder. 

How was Adrien supposed to explain this without giving it all away? He couldn’t say he knew who Ladybug was or risk Nino putting it together. He couldn’t explain this, not really, not truthfully. But Adrien needed his best friends' help right now. After a moment, Adrien decided this would get a whole lot easier if he could get the answer to one question that had been bothering him since this mess of a situation had begun.

“Does Marinette like me?” 

Nino started, his face a mix of shock and disbelief. For a moment Adrien felt the tiniest spark of hope he still held dissipate. The look on Nino’s face was rarely one that signaled good news.

“Dude.” Nino said, “You're an idiot.”

That night Adrien tossed and turned until the moon was high in the sky. Nino’s words ringing through his ears. Pulling out from his covers and slipping out from the bed Adrien moved to look out the window. Autumn had long since come to its end and Winter was slowly arriving but besides the slight chill in the air, there was no sign of it’s arrival. 

Adrien rested his head against the cool glass of his window. Feeling the room shrink around him, and tried to ignore that overwhelming feeling of unknowing in his chest. It had begun to happen all too often these days. The majority of his days were spent locked away in his room by his father. At the very least, he had a way to push back the choking feeling in his throat when it got like this. 

“Plag?” He said, his voice heavy and tired, “Claws out.”

Jumping roof to roof, Adrien allowed himself to bleed into Chat Noir. But his thoughts wouldn't clear from the state of affairs he found himself in. He jumped and ran until his arms were weak and his legs gave out. Until his lungs burned and his entire body cried out for rest. 

Collapsing against the chimney of a random building, Adrien took a moment to regain his energy. Staring down onto the streets below Adrien watched the last remaining citizens of Paris make their way home, hidden in the darkness of the Paresean night.

As Chat Noir, Adrien could experience freedom for however long an akuma or a patrol lasted. Could laugh, joke and be himself. Be completely true to who he was without the Agreste name hanging on his shoulders and over his head. And Ladybug was there to play around with him, Marinette was there to play along with him. All Adrien could think was how terrified he was that he might lose her if she found out.

How stupid were they? Even right in front of each they both missed it. Both of them, head over heels for each other but to blind to see it, even when everyone else knew. Absolute idiots, the both of them. 

He sat there until the early morning light began to peak over the roofs of Paris and the frost of the air began to dissipate. He couldn’t go another day without doing something. He wanted his lady there with him, wanted to be able to hold her hand and walk into class together with her. Standing, Adrien readied himself for the next day of school and headed back to the Agreste Mansion.

If Adrien had spent that night sitting on a roof across the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, that wasn’t important. 

Adrien walked into school two weeks later with a new found sense of confidence and a plan. Sitting down next to Nino, Adrien couldn’t help but smile as Marinette walked into class. Hawkmoth had amped up the akuma attacks recently, leaving them both exhausted. Still, whenever he saw Marinette he couldn’t help but to smile. Never bothering to ignore the new butterflies in his stomach that had made their way there over these past weeks.

“Adrien, chill out, you're gonna snap your pencil if you bang it on that desk any harder.” Nino leaned to whisper into his ear.

Nino was right, but that clock was so painfully slow. Turning, Adrien managed to spare a glance at Marinette, who looked absolutely dead. The increased attacks had taken a toll on her much more than him, and he felt bad for soon adding another thing onto her plate. 

He’d gone by her bakery a couple times over the past two weeks and had seen the steady increase of customers as they crept closer towards the holidays. The day he’d gone in to pick up an order of his own the entire Dupain-Cheng family was working on getting the orders ready for the line of people that went out the door. Frantically running back and forth to get all the pastries passed out to their customers.

For the next half-hour Adrien sat at his desk taking notes and talking with Nino, quietly laughing at Alyas failed attempts to converse with the near unconscious Marinette. But when the bell rang, Adrien was first to jump out of his seat and rush out of the classroom, not bothering to wait to hear what Miss Bustier had assigned for homework. 

In the school quad Adrien waited until Alya and Marinette came down the stairs before he made his approach. 

“Marinette! Alya! Hold on a minute!” Jumping out from his place behind the stairs, Adrien made his way to catch up with the two girls. 

“Up! What’s Adrien? I-I mean Adrien! What’s up?” Marinette responded, shooting a look towards Alya. 

He knew he was about to make it worse but in the end, they could laugh about it later. Maybe. Hopefully. This could very well end in her never trusting him again. But if it did, he wouldn’t exactly blame her. Still, he wanted her to know it was him more than anything else. 

“Listen can I talk to you for a moment? I need some help with something.” Adrien hoped his smile was convincingly sweet enough in the ‘I’m totally not planning something here’ sort of way. 

“Um….” He could almost see the steam coming out from Marinette's ears as her brain began to short circuit. She’d probably kill him for this later, but he was in two deep now.

“Of course Marinette can,” Alya pushed Marinette towards him, her cheeks blushed red with panic, “I’ll meet you at the bakery later so we can get that head start on the homework.” 

Correction then, if Marinette killed him, it would only be after she killed Alya. 

A dreamy look in her eye, Marinette shook her head in agreement as he explained his idea, “So would that work? Would that be okay?”

“Yep!” She responded, smiling at him.

Was he asking her to design and help make her own christmas present? Yes, yes he was. Was this something he would guilt himself over until next christmas and probably after? Also yes. 

“Amazing, thank you so much,” He smiled at her, “I’ll see you later then?”

Adrien was already walking away before she could respond, throwing a wave over his shoulder as he entered the car that awaited him after class. Adrien needed to get supplies before he went over to Marinette’s, hopefully his father wouldn’t mind him borrowing from his supplies.

Adrien pulled out his phone to send off a text to Marinette as his driver parked the car outside of the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

I’m outside when you're ready.

Minutes later, Adrien watched Marinette race down the steps of the bakery and through the doors, nearly knocking down an incoming customer. 

“Hey Marinette! I got all the stuff for the thing, you ready?” He said, lifting a bundle of red and black fabric into the air above.

With a nod, Marinette motioned for him to come with her causing his driver to move back into the car and drive off. Adrien took a moment before approaching her. There really was no way to go back now. 

They worked through the majority of the day never stopping for a break or rest. Adrien managed to do most of the work that he originally hoped he would, his fathers lessons in sewing from early childhood guiding him through the stitchwork going right along with Marinette's occasional advice. 

As the sun crept lower into the sky Adrien began to worry they weren’t going to finish in time. He’d only managed to negotiate one day off from all his lessons with his father, convincing him it was for a ‘school project’. If he asked for another day, Gabriel surely wouldn’t give it to him. Either way, Chat Noir and Ladybugs gift exchange was tomorrow night and he didn’t have a backup gift.

He really shouldn’t have waited this long to ask her, but everytime he tried he got too nervous. The thoughts of ‘What if?’ and ‘What about?’ always ringing in his head. He’d managed to do it today out of a mix of post procrastination panic and the overwhelming fear of failure instilled in him since childhood. Thanks Dad. 

They continued to work for hours more, until their hands cramped up and their backs went stiff. They stitched the scarf together while simultaneously shoving their mouths full of pizza and energy drinks to keep themselves alive through it all. But as Adrien put in the final stitch and shut off the sewing machine he knew he wouldn’t be getting any rest before tonight's gift exchange.

Silently, both their eyes still looking at the scarf below, their hands went up to a fistbump. With it he felt all the doubt he carried about telling her wash away. Maybe she’d kill him, but it would be worth it for a chance of more nights spent together like this. 

“Well,” Adrian said, a dull and tired smile spreading across his face, “I guess you could say we make a pretty seamless team.”

Marinette was so tired that she actually laughed. She laughed. At a pun. His pun. Ladybug was laughing at his pun. He’d never let her live it down. Not for as long as they lived.

“Yep, pretty seamless alright.” Marinette whispered once her tired laughter gave way.

Outside, the first rays of sunlight had begun to stretch across the city. Luckily, it was the weekend, which meant no school. Unluckily, he was Adrien Agreste, which meant days off weren’t really a thing he got to experience. He had a modeling job Natalie would be waking him up for in an hour, which meant he had to make a dead sprint to sneak back into his room before she was there to wake him up. He may have been able to convince his driver to let him stay longer, but neither Natalie nor his father knew he’d been out all night.

He really had to go, but he let himself live in this stray moment of peace for as long as he could.

The modeling gig had been a nightmare, he spent it struggling to keep himself awake and barely understanding any of the directions given to him by the photographer. Since the photographer couldn’t get any of the picks he wanted with a half asleep Adrien half listening, the shoot had taken the better part of the entire day. Which left him frantically wrapping the present box the scarf was now tucked inside of.

The gift exchange was tonight and his hands hadn’t stopped shaking since he left Marinettes apartment. This had to go well, he didn’t know what he’d do if it didn’t. 

But as he donned the Chat Noir suit and sprang through the streets of Paris, he tried to let go of the fears he held about the coming exchange. It would be fine, it had to be. That was the only option he could handle.

They reached the rooftops across the Arc de Triomphe simultaneously. Landing, he watched Ladybug shiver slightly in the cold. He knew the scarf was a good idea, and it matched her suit as well! 

Taking a moment to settle down they both stop to admire the decorations. In the distance he could see the Agreste mansion was dark, his father never bothering to set up any decoration besides the sad Christmas tree he allowed Natalie to place in the living room. 

But tonight wasn’t about life inside the Agreste Mansion, it was about him and his partner. As Ladybug passed over the bag containing his gift, he tried to hide the shakiness of his hands as he gave her the box containing the scarf. 

“It’s nothing much my Lady, but you always complain about how cold you get when we're out late.” He whispered as she slowly took the lid of the box, staring.

His hands were shaking uncontrollably now, the sweat of his palms hidden by the suit. Adrien's heart hammered loud as a firecracker as she stared at the spotted scarf for what felt like an eternity. 

He managed to get out a quivering, “Ladybug?”

Slowly, so painfully slowly, she raised her head to look at him, realization etched across her face and written in her eyes. 

“Adrien?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Car salesman: *slaps adrien* you can fit so much self-projection into this bad boy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette reacts to discovering Adrien and the ensuing chaos of feelings.

Marinette was haunted by her memories of Chat Blanc and his dark future. Before Bunnix had brought her into that future timeline, she'd begun to waver on the idea of not telling each other their civilian identities. But not after.

No, after seeing what learning the truth had done to Chat, she'd thrown aside her growing feelings for the kitty and shut out the thoughts of ever learning who was behind the mask of Chat Noir.

It was for the better, no matter how much it hurt. But staring at that scarf tucked inside it's small present box Marinette's resolve crumbled away as the seconds ticked by without a sign of Bunnix.

Still, her fears of a future where Chat Blanc was left sitting on the remains of the Eiffel Tower clawed at her heart and head. It was Adrien she had fought that day. Whatever little pieces had been left of him. Still, she was terrified it was all going to begin again.

Slowly she raised her head up to look at Chat Noir, at Adrien. Took a moment to stare at his green eyes and messy blonde hair. Remind herself that his suit was still the correct color, and no dark butterfly was going to come and get them as long as she could remember to breathe. 

"Um…. Hi?” 

Marinette could feel the steam coming out of her ears. She just figured out his identity based around a scarf and he was saying hello?

Adrien was smart. Chat was smart. There was no way he’d go to someone for help with a one-of-a-kind gift and risk that they’d notice Ladybug wearing it. He would have to see how someone could put those two things together. How many times did they figure out where the akuma was based on what they were wearing before? 

Standing Marinette looked out towards the Arc and the rest of Paris, the erratic beating of her heart had begun to slow, but still refused to turn to it’s normal rhythm. 

Chat was smart, smart enough to know she’d put it together. But apparently stupid enough to think she wouldn’t be mad.

“We aren’t supposed to know each other's identities, Chat!” He’d figured it out, he’d had to. There was no other reasonable explanation. She didn’t want to say his name aloud, his real name. Because saying it aloud made it real, and she wasn’t ready for real. Real was hard, real meant dealing with feelings she didn’t want to deal with.

She took a breath, reminded herself once again to think rationally. This was her partner, her partner who never did anything to hurt her on purpose. Who had taken so many hits and cuts for her protection. It didn’t change now that she knew his name. 

“I-I know it’s a lot, I do! I didn’t figure it out on purpose, I didn't I swear!” Chat- Adrien said from behind her. “I found out after that akuma attack? The one so close to the school?” 

Yeah, she remembered that one. She’d had seconds left on her timer and didn’t think through where she transformed. That fight had been rough, and she’d been worried about getting to her next class after, not stopping to check if anyone had seen. 

Stupid, stupid, how stupid of her! She banged her fist into her forehead, This was her fault.

“I'm not mad at you Adrien-” His name felt weird to say to her partner, he didn’t look anything like his civilian persona, and she was right it felt real now. So very real. “But this alot, like a lot a lot. Just, just give me some time to think, Okay?” She hoped her smile reached eyes.

He nodded and Marinette couldn’t tell what the look on his face meant. So she turned around and swung off the roof and back to her apartment, clutching the scarf they made together in hand.

That night Marinette didn’t get a bit of sleep, tossing and turning until the sun came up as her Kwami watched her in worry. Tikki watched in silence as Marinette curled around the scarf Adrien had given her, remembering the night spent hunched over the sewing machine together. 

Hawkmoth didn’t send a single akuma over the holiday break, allowing the city a reprieve from the fear he brought the city. On more occasions than Marinette would’ve liked to admit, she found herself dialing Adriens number only to hang up like a coward before he could pick up. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, savior of Paris and hero of France, was still incapable of talking to a teenage boy.

Trudging down the stairs for breakfast on the first day back to school, Marinette's thoughts were not on the delicious meal in front of her, but instead on the nightmare of the day ahead of her. She’d have to see him today. And she had no idea what she was going to do.

As the days passed Marinette did her best to avoid any contact with Adrien. From ducking into random classrooms to an embarrassing moment involving a trash can, she was doing whatever she could to avoid talking to her partner. Talking to Adrien meant having a conversation she was not ready to have and Marinette planned on procrastinating for as long as she could. 

Alya seemed alright with going along with Marinette's antics finding entertainment in her desperate attempts to avoid being spotted by Adrien. 

“Okay Marinette what is going on with you! You nearly jumped off the staircase to avoid Adrien! I didn’t even know you could do that!” She paused a moment, “Is this about the thing he needed help with?”

A blushed filled Marinette's cheeks, the bittersweet memory of that night filling her both with joy and a sad anger. 

“Kind of, yeah.”  
“So are you going to tell me what's happening?”

“No.”

“I love you Marinette, but you need to talk to him. I do not want to spend another day eating next to the dumpsters.” Alya said, motioning towards the school dumpster their backpacks were laid up against. 

Marinette's sheepish smile and tiny shrug was the only response Alya got to her annoyance of their situation.

They sait together in silence for a few minutes, each of them eating their lunches. Marinette had no interest in talking anymore about the situation at hand even if she could somehow manage to explain everything without revealing her and Adriens identity. The heavy feeling that had dug a space for itself into her chest growing larger at her mind's mention of Adrien. 

“Okay, moving on! Do you wanna see what Nino got me for Christmas?” Alya asked, pulling over backpack and taking out her phone.

They chatted about nothing and everything until the bell rang, standing up from behind the dumpster and began to make their way towards Miss. Bustiers class. Everyone else had already made their way towards their seats. Marinette ducking behind Alya as they made their way up the seats to avoid being spotted by Adrien, who kept his eyes locked on the board.

Miss Bustier began her lecture as the class settled down. Marinette stared out the window across the room, trying not to focus on the blonde head in front of her. The sun was out and shining today, the cloudless sky leaving a beautiful view of the Paris Skyline. 

Marinette starred out the window for the majority of the class. Only stirred out from her daydreams at the sound of vibrating cell phones throughout the class. 

Pulling out their phones, Marinette watched as her classmates' phones lit up with Akuma alerts. 

Sighing, Alya clicked some buttons on her phone, pulling up live footage, “It’s fine everyone, just Mr. Pigeon.” 

Groans of annoyance and mutters of ‘Again?’ filled the classroom. Mr. Pigeon had become a bit of a meme to Pereaseans as every couple of weeks he seemed to be reakumatised by Hawkmoth. Why Hawkmoth kept doing it was a mystery, he never even managed to get close to stealing their miraculous. 

Raising their hands simultaneously, Marinette and Adrien both shouted for the bathroom. Not waiting for a reply, they both darted out the door. 

“Go transform! We’ll meet up there.” Adrien nodded, and the two of them split up.

“So! When are we gonna talk about it?” Adrien's voice rang out as they arrived on the scene, both having transformed on the way.

“Not right now we’re not!” Marinette could hardly believe him, it might be Mr. Pigeon but they were still in the middle of an akuma fight. 

“You're avoiding me!” 

“I am not!”

Chat stopped fighting the barrage of pigeons attacking him, “You ate lunch in the dumpsters.”

“Focus Chat! And it was next to the dumpsters!”

“Pound it!” 

The fight went as usual, Mr Pigeon failing to get their akumas and make Paris a place for the pigeons. A small crowd had gathered not far away to watch the fight, applauding as the ladybugs flew out to heal any damaged property. Marinette wondered how long it would take until video of the fight got on the Ladyblog, Alya’s crowdsourcing for content had allowed her to get more fights up faster, some going up within the hour. 

Giving one last wave to the crowd, Marinette moved to pull out her yo-yo, prepared to go back to school and continue to avoid adrien. But Chats hand on her arm stopped her, the tiny claws at the end of the gloves digging into her suit.

“Can we talk, please?” His voice was tinged with a desperation she had never heard from him before.

“Yeah,” She nodded, the quiet click click click of camera not registering to her ears. Alya had said she needed to talk to him, and the idea of going back to eating beside dumpsters and jumping in trash cans to avoid this talk was more exhausting than any akuma. “How about tonight? Same place?” Her concession had nothing to do with how the look in his eye and the tinge of his voice made her want to cleave her heart in half. 

The rest of school had been boring and felt like it had lasted forever. Marinette sprinted home when the bell rang, barely even waving goodbye as she rushed out the classroom. Going up to her attic bedroom Marinette landed in her desk chair with a thud, pulling out her tower of homework. 

If she sped through and only took one 15 minute break, she could finish in time to eat dinner before she met up with Adrien. 

So she went to work, busting out answers to math problems and chemistry equations, typing out her english essay and doing her assigned history reading by the time her parents called her down for dinner.

Hours later, she set out to arrive at the same rooftop that all started on, another box of Adriens favorite sweets tucked under her arm and a warm scarf wrapped around her neck. 

She was there early, the sun just beginning to dip under the skyline, but Adrien still managed to arrive before her. Leaning up against the fireplace, Chat Noir stared out towards the setting sun, a bitter smile lining his face.

“Whats up? I brought your favorite candy.” Silently, Chat grabbed the box popping a couple of pieces into his mouth at once. 

“My fathers was just being himself. I missed a couple of assignments and failed a test because of- um- everything.” Chat begins to look more like Adrien with each word. The swagger he holds himself with fading into a tired pose of defeat, his smile into a frown. “He’s threatening to pull me out of school again.”

Sitting next to him on the roof, Marinette leaned her head on Adriens shoulder. The padding of the suit cool against her face, his head moving to lean against hers. 

“I'm sorry.” His voice was barely above a whisper, almost drowned out in the wind.

“I’m sorry! I shouldn’t’ve ran away, I should’ve listened to you. Let you explain.” Marinette threw her arms in the air, an aghast expression on her face.

Shaking his head, Adrien began to laugh. “No, no, no I was the one who went against your wishes on the secret identities and made you make your own christmas present.”

A beat of silence. “Which you look great in by the way.” 

“Thanks.” Another moment of silence, “But I’m still apologizing.” 

“Mari!” Adrien's voice had begun to brighten, laughter breaking on the edge. “You were upset! It was upsetting. Let me apologize!”

“I’m not saying you can’t apologize, I’m just saying I also want to apologize.” She was looking at him now, his eyes gone a light red from earlier tears not matching the toothy grin that had made its way to replace the bitter smile she saw on her arrival. “If you don’t I’m going to feel like a terrible person for the rest of my life. Do you really want me to feel like a terrible person the rest of my life?”

Adrien put his head on her shoulder, wrapping his hands around her waist. They sat there until the moon was raised high in the sky. His arm around her waist as she carded her fingers through his hair. Staring out towards the Arc and the city around it. 

The next day Adrien and Marinette walked into the classroom hand and hand, taking a seat together in the front row. Around them their classmate cheered and passed money around. 

“Ugh! Seriously you two! Couldn’t have waited a couple more months before you got together?” Chloe shouted towards them, crossing her arms and failing to hide a small smile.

“Be a good sport and pay up Chloe.” Kim joyfully prodded her, hand reaching out in expectation. 

Digging her head in her hands Marinette groaned, “Did you all make bets on us?”

“Yeah, even the faculty got in on it.” Alya confirmed to her.

MArinette wanted to die, she wanted to curl up under this table and die. This was worse than when she first agreed to help Adrien outside the school. There was no question as to how mortifying that had been but this achieved a whole new level of terribleness. No way was she ever going to forgive her friends for this. 

“Oh come on Marinette,” Adrien said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. “They just understand how perfect we are as a couple.” He paused to wrap his arm around her, pulling her in closer. “In fact, I would even say we’re seamless.”

Groaning Marinette raised her head to look at Adrien. “Are you ever gonna let me live that down?”

“Nope.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Dances in completed fic*

**Author's Note:**

> Aight catch me writing two different part 2's form Adriens POV and not knowing which to post.


End file.
